Calgary Woman Protesting ‘Sudden’ Marijuana Ban in Alberta Hospitals

By
Robson Fletcher, Metro
on January 7, 2014

Medical marijuana user Lisa Kirkman says she used to regularly consume vaporized cannabis while in Alberta hospitals but a sudden change in policy and grinding bureaucracy have now made it effectively impossible for her to access medical care.

“I want to be able to receive medical treatment like every other Albertan, like every other Canadian,” she said Monday.

Kirkman said a Nov. 4 Alberta Health Services memo, which she described as a well intentioned attempt to codify a previously ad hoc policy on vaporizer use, ended up resulting in vaporizers being effectively banned in the interim.

“In the meantime, we should go back to the status quo,” she said. “I need care now. I needed care two months ago.”

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In addition to a “Vape Out” protest she and and other medical-marijuana licence holders plan to stage at a hospital in Calgary on Wednesday, Kirkman has also set out on a hunger strike, pledging to remain on a clear-liquid diet until AHS changes its position.